new York – The fertility rate in the United States fell to a historic hollow in 2024 with less than 1.6 children per woman, according to federal data published Thursday.
The United States was once among a few developed countries with a rate that ensured that each generation had enough children to replace – around 2.1 children per woman. But it has been running into America for almost two decades as More women wait longer to have children Or not do it at all.
The new statistic is tied with fertility rates in Western European countries, according to the World Bank data.
Alarmed by recent decrees, the Trump administration has taken measures to increase the drop in birth rate, such as the publication of a decree in February intended to extend access and reduce the costs of in vitro fertilization And support the idea of “baby bonus” that could encourage more couples to have children.
The Secretary of the White House staff, Will Scharf, pointed out to journalists at the time that in vitro treatments “became unaffordable for many Americans or were unaffordable for many Americans”. Health insurance companies are not required to cover IVF treatments, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
But there is no reason to be alarmed, according to Leslie Root, a Boulder researcher from the University of Colorado focused on fertility and demographic policy.
“We see it as part of a continuous process of delay in fertility. We know that the American population is still growing, and we always have a natural increase-more births than deaths,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention American have released statistics from the total fertility rate with updated birth data for 2024.
In the early 1960s, the total American fertility rate was approximately 3.5, but dropped to 1.7 in 1976 after the end of the baby boom. It gradually increased to 2.1 in 2007 before falling again, apart from a 2014 increase. The rate in 2023 was 1.621 but increased in 2024 to 1.599, according to the National CDC Center for Health Statistics.
Continuous decline factors
Birth rates are generally decreasing for women in most age groups – and that does not seem to change in the near future, said Karen Guzzo, director of Carolina Population Center at the Northern Carolina University.
People get married later and are also concerned about their ability to have money, health insurance and other resources necessary to raise children in a stable environment.
“Concern is not a good time to have children”, and that is why birth rate in most age groups are not improving, she said.
Asked about the birth promotion measures described by the Trump administration, Guzzo said they did not meet more important needs such as parental leave and affordable guard services.
“The things they do are really symbolic and unlikely to move things for real Americans,” she said.
The new CDC report, based on a more complete examination of birth certificates than the provisional data published earlier this year, also showed a 1% increase in births – approximately 33,000 more – last year compared to the previous year.
This brought the annual national total to just over 3.6 million babies born.
But this is different: the provisional data indicated that the birth rate increased last year for women at the end of the twenty and 30 years. However, the new report found that the birth rate decreased for women in the twenties and the early 1930s, and no change for women at the end of the thirties.
What happened? CDC officials said it was due to recalcis resulting from a change in the population of the American census population used to calculate the birth rate.
It’s plausible, said Root. While the total population of women of prosecutor has increased due to immigration, it has compensated for small increases in births to women in these age groups, she said.
